Fringed hat



L. KRAUSE.

FRINGED HAT.

APPLICATION FILED MAfi.29,1922.

Patented Sept. 12, 1922.

A TTORNEV Patented Sept. 12, 1922.

LOU KRAUsE, or NEW YORK,

N.;,y.,;AssIG1\T5onl.n.lo' sum EDGE ooMrANY ,'I1\T'c., A con- PORATIONOF NEW YORK.

FRINGED HAT.

Application fiiedikiifi 29, 1922. Serial No. 547,929.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Loo KRAUSE, a citizen of the United States, of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fringed Hats, of which the following is a specification.

The invention is a novel and useful form of decorative fringe formed on soft felt sheet material or other fabric, the object being to provide a fringe capable of being made in an expeditious and economical manner, and possessing special physical characteristics making for variety and attractiveness of appearance. The invention is particularly useful in articles of apparel such as, for example, the brims of womens soft felt hats, which by this invention are given a distinctive character of great value. A further object of the invention is the imparting to a felt hat of a capability of reshaping without the necessity of reblocking the hat, resulting in the ability of the wearer to select a stock hat and give it any of a large number of shapes when putting it upon the head. Such a capability is due to the fact that the outer edge of the hat brim, due to the presence of the slits, is flexible and thereby decreases the width of that portion of the rim in which bulges or humps are formed in the bending thereof.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a womans soft felt hat, the rim of which embodies the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of a piece of material, which may be the hatbrim or another article, showing the fringe as it is immediately after being cut and before being loosened or roughed up.

The method of making the fringe is described in my copending applications, serially numbered 547,930 and 547,981, filed March 29, 1922. Briefly the edge portion of the felt hat-brim 2 or other article is cut with parallel close-together slits 3, and the edge is pinked so as to produce points and dentations t 0n the ends of the tongues 5 between the slits. These tongues are of substantial thickness compared with their width. The fringe in its flat condition as thus produced is shown in Fig. 2. The fringe is then roughed up so that the tpn'gues as me ii t l al,inclinations it: 15- po i edire ons fr m jthr jnelot .niedian, the result'be'ing somewhat of an irregular scalloping, producing, in the case of an upstanding hat-brim a particularly graceful springing or growing effect. As seen at the right and left ends of Fig. 1, the appearance is that of a thick fringe, despite the fact that it is all cut from the flat sheet material. By stroking or roughing the fringe the specific appearance can be varied, and there is enough body to the flexible tongues to enable them to hold the diversified inclinations or curvatures. The pointed ends of the tongues is an important element in securing the novel effects, and can be produced by a very simple pinking operation subsequent to the cutting of the slits, the pinking as described in my copending application serving to remove the integral margin of the material left after the slitting and thus freeing the ends of the tongues.

Not less important is the result produced by the parallel close-together slits of imparting to the hat as a whole a special capability of readily reshaping the hat without the necessity of reblocking the same as in the felt hat without the slit edge, the outer edge of the brim constitutes an inflexible binder or rim tending to prevent shaping of the hat with portions of the brim bent downward. If in such a hat, it is desired to wear it with a portion of the brim bent out of the circular form, it is necessary to reblock the same in order to produce a neat finish in the hat. If reshaped, without reblocking, the hat brim presents humps or bellies in the bent rim. In a slit edge hat, with the same amount of bent portion of the brim, there is a minimum of hump or belly, and the slit edge constitutes a means for providing a straight rim to a hat so reshaped. It also enables the hat after reshaping without reblocking, to remain in the position in which it is placed with a minimum of tendency to return to its original shape. One hat with a slit edge can therefore be worn in a number of shapes.

Another feature of advantage of the slit edge in the hat brim is its ever neat appearance. In a plain or piped brim edge, dirt, soil and wear soon make the hat look old, but with the fringed effect of the brim edge produced by slitting as described, the ends of the fringed portlon do not produce this same worn or soiled effect. I v

What is claimed as new is:

1. A soft felt hat the brim of which is cut and .dentated so as to form a pointed fringe of narrow flexible tongues of substantial thickness relative to their width, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. I

2. A soft felt hat, the outer edge of the brim of which is provided with a series of closely formed slits producing narrow flexible tongues to form a fringe and permit tin a capability of reshaping of the hat wit out reblocking thereof.

3. A soft felt hat, the outer edge of the brim of which is upturned and provided throughout its circumference with parallel close-together slits producing. narrow flexible tongues to form a fringe, said slits extending into the brim of the hat a sufficient distance to insure a certain capability of reshaping of the hat without reblocking' thereof, whereby a variety of shapes may be formed with the one stock hat.

' LoU KRAUSE'. 

